


Long Time No See

by InkEros (thacmis)



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Childhood Friends, Erik Has Feelings, Erik Logic Is The Best Logic, Erik is a major closet case, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt Charles, Jealous Charles, M/M, Poor Charles, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-08 22:30:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12263364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thacmis/pseuds/InkEros
Summary: The new kid in class is someone from Erik's dark, dark past. Charles Xavier, for some reason or another, keeps following Erik around, trying to talk to him like a man on a mission. He's someone Erik never wanted or expected to see, ever again.Or... doesn't he?





	Long Time No See

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ikeracity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikeracity/gifts).



> A birthday gift for the beloved ikeracity. Thank you for your friendship, your GENIUS writings, and your overall Wholesomeness, which has made me smile many times. :') I hope you will enjoy this happy little fic! Have an AWESOME birthday!

There was a new kid in class today. He'd stood in front of the room, blue-eyed and brown-haired, rosy-cheeked and petite, effortlessly stealing the hearts of fellow students with his soft, British lilt. Charles Xavier was unspeakably charming, and his innocent smiles instantly secured the favour of the teacher for the foreseeable future.

He was gorgeous, familiar, and utterly dreadful to Erik.

"I don't want to talk to him!" he hissed to Azazel during lunch hour.

Azazel rolled his eyes as he munched on his sandwich. "You are way too worked up about him for me to believe that," he muttered.

"No! I really don't!"

"Why not? You said you've known him since childhood, I'm sure he'd be happy- "

Erik waved his arms frantically, and when Azazel simply looked exasperated and confused at what Erik thought was an obvious expression of panicked refusal, he sighed and put his face in his hands. "I wasn't nice to him. We kind of… 'broke up' before we went to middle school."

Azazel harrumphed. "Well why didn't you say so? But if it was in elementary school, then it was like, what, six, seven years ago? You guys were kids. You can't have said something _that_ bad."

"I did, I did," Erik moaned.

"Whatever, then don't talk to him. There are plenty of friends I had in elementary school that I'll probably never talk to or see ever again."

Erik dropped his hands. "But, but - " he stammered, conflicted.

An enormous breath of bologna and mayonnaise escaped Azazel's mouth as he crumped up his saran wrap and made to stand up and leave. "Oh my fucking god, Erik. This is not a big deal."

Erik made a strangled noise and Azazel made his escape from his impossible friend.

Just then, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed a navy blue sweater approaching him. In another second, Erik found himself directly facing Charles Xavier.

He didn't even have time to _react_.

"Erik!" Charles said with a gorgeous smile. Oh, his eyes were still so, so blue. "I'm so thrilled to see you again! Reuniting after all these years, isn't it grand? Do you want to- "

"Sorry, excuse me," Erik said quickly. His brain was suddenly on auto-pilot, and he functioned solely on impulses at the moment. He stood up, nearly knocking his chair over into Charles. "Uh, I have somewhere to be right now. Later." Then he dashed out of the classroom.

He glimpsed Azazel looking up at the ceiling as he exited the room.

Before he could get too far - he was headed towards the library, as it was the safest and most reasonable place to head after the excuse he'd given - he was accosted by girls from his class. Moira and Emma each grabbed a sleeve of his uniform and brought him to a full stop right outside the library doors.

"Do you _know_ Charles Xavier?" they both exclaimed excitedly at him.

Erik blanched. "What the hell?"

"I remember you two were best friends back in elementary," said Moira with a hungry look in her eyes. "Like, really tight! Do you think you could talk to him for us?"

"Yes. Do you know if he has a girlfriend?" said Emma, leaning too far into his personal space. Her perfume attacked his senses.

"I - I don't -" Erik stammered.

"Well. Ask him if he has a girlfriend," she said.

"Yes. Ask him if he has a girlfriend," said Moira.

"Look," said Erik, cowed and annoyed at the same time. "I don't really know - we're not really - "

"You guys were really close," said Moira. "We saw you two talking back there! _Ask him if he has a girlfriend!_ "

"Or else," Emma hissed.

Erik gulped. "Ok. All right."

"Thank you!" They both said brightly, teeth glittering white as they smiled at him and pranced away.

"You never told us you were such a chick magnet," pouted Janos, who was approaching Erik down the hall and apparently hadn't heard the conversation. He'd only seen Erik being crowded by girls. Azazel was next to him and looked on the verge of bursting into laugher.

Erik rolled his eyes and barely refrained from punching through the library doors.

Later that day, as class was being dismissed, Charles approached him again. Erik stared imploringly at Azazel, who pretended not to see him.

"Hey Erik, I was wondering if we could talk? Maybe - are you walking home? Are you still living in the same place?"

Accidentally - _accidentally_ \- Erik slammed his textbooks on his desk a little too hard. Erik was gratified to see Charles flinch, but aside from that, it was the only change in Charles' overall demeanour, which was still bright and cheery and stupidly gorgeous to look at. His smile hadn't wavered - or had it? Did the corner of his red, red lips twitch downwards just a little bit, for a second?

"No, I - uh - I'm walking home with Azazel today," Erik grunted.

Azazel stared angrily at him over the back of Charles' head. Erik viciously gave him a taste of his own medicine, and ignored him.

"C'mon, Az," Erik said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and walking away before Charles had a chance to reply. Erik didn't look back, and he adamantly told himself not to feel bad for cutting him off. He didn't see Charles glare at Azazel, who looked back in confusion.

As he and Azazel walked along the wet sidewalk, the air still fresh from a rainstorm, Azazel asked very seriously, "What is wrong with you?"

"What?" Erik asked.

"You and Charles. I've been trying to be respect your space, man, but you've involved me now and it's gotten weird enough that I'm demanding you to tell me what's going on between you two. Why are you avoiding him like this? It's almost cruel."

Erik sighed, and he thought about it.

"Okay," Erik, said slowly.

"Storytime," said Azazel.

"Shut up," said Erik. "Okay. So he and I were really… really good friends, back in elementary. Like brothers, almost. His mom was always working, so he liked to come over to my house and we spent a lot of time together. A _lot_. We even made a pact, on this tree up on that big hill over there-" he pointed to it - "and we carved our initials on it. 'Together forever' or some shit like that. And then one day, he told me was going to move. To Britain."

Azazel hummed. Erik took a deep breath, and continued.

"I mean, I was a kid. I was so angry - at _him_ , for his _family's_ decision. His dad had found a job there or something, and he'd lived there before, so they went. When Charles told me, he was really upset, too, I could tell, but I was too angry to care. I just… called him a bunch of names that I really shouldn't have, told him I hated him, and told him to go to hell. God, he was crying by the end of it, and I just… I just… left him like that. Sitting and crying in the middle of the road."

Azazel stopped walking and so did Erik. Azazel stared at him for a long time. Erik hung his head in shame.

"And then I never saw him again," he said. "Until now."

"That was so _mean_ of you," Azazel finally said, sounding like he actually had some empathy, for once.

"I know!" Erik exclaimed. "I _know_. See? This is why I can't face him now."

Azazel was silent for a moment, before whacking Erik hard on the head with the book in his hand.

Erik yelped. "What was that for?"

"What was that for? Erik, _you_ should be the one talking to him right now. Charles is the one who's wanting to talk to you. Unbelievable. _He's_ the victim and he's actually making an effort to make it up to his asshole friend! Why are you being like this?"

"Because I can't figure it out!"

"Figure what out?"

"Figure out why he's talking to me now! Like nothing's wrong. Like we'd just said goodbye the other day. I don't _understand_ . The only explanation for his casual behaviour is that he's… _forgotten_ what happened, or that it meant nothing to him. And that would be…"

"Be what?" Azazel prompted, when Erik trailed off.

"He was my best friend. He was so important to me. If he could brush _that_ off so easily, it means that I didn't _mean_ much to him, and if that's the case… well, I don't want to talk to him if that's the case."

"That's… kind of a selfish reason. Basically you _wanted_ it to have hurt him."

Erik squeezed his eyes shut. "When you put it that way. Yeah. I'm an ass. Honestly, he shouldn't even try to talk to me."

Azazel seemed to chew on that for a while, before starting to walk again. Erik followed. They walked in silence all the way home to Azazel's house, and at his doorstep, right before they bade each other goodbye for the day, Azazel said, "You're an idiot, Erik."

Erik nodded solemnly, and headed to his own house as Azazel closed the door.

The next day, during PE class, Charles happened to stand right next to him in the line-up order that their teacher had devised. When Mr. Howlett told them all to pick a partner for basketball practice, Charles turned to him and asked, as brightly as ever, "Erik, do you have a partner?" His eyes were still so, so blue.

Erik cleared his throat. "Sorry, yeah Az-"

In the distance, he saw Moira and Emma glare at him and make unison cutthroat gestures.

"Azazel's my partner already. Sorry."

"Oh," Charles said softly, full of hurt and so quietly that Erik wasn't sure he heard right. But that moment, Erik was already jogging over to Azazel to beg for his partnership for the activity. He mouthed "later!" at Moira and Emma on the other side of the gym, and they breathed fire at him.

Azazel swung a basketball at him, nearly taking off his nose. "You need to stop this," he said.

"Probably," Erik said, throwing it back.

"How long are you going to keep this up?" asked Azazel. "This is ridiculous. For a whole year? You're going to ignore him for the whole year? Where's that going to get you? He's going to give up talking to you, you'll be strangers forever, and I'm going to have to deal with your sulking for the rest of the year. I won't stand for it," he said, as he sat down on the gym floor to take a break.

"Mr. Flemyng! Get your butt off the ground!" roared Mr. Howlett.

 

Azazel groaned and stood up again, and Erik bounced a ball as hard as he could.

When gym was over, Erik happened to lag behind everyone else as they filed out of the class. Just his luck, Mr. Howlett called out to him.

"Clean-up duty for PE class is on Xavier today, but since he's the new kid, I want you to help him out," the teacher said.

"W-what?"

"Xavier's in the back room putting away supplies right now. That kid's too small to handle most of the equipment - you better hurry before he hurts himself."

Erik swallowed and clenched his fists a few times, preparing himself. He thought about Azazel's many words, about his own cowardice, about Charles' bright, blue eyes, and decided he couldn't put this off any longer.

With a deep breath, he made his way to the back room.

"Uh, hello?" he said, when it wasn't apparent where Charles was in the storage. The place was made with sound-absorbent material for some reason, so he couldn't really rely on his ears to track Charles' whereabouts either. "Mr. Howlett sent me here to help out with the equipment. I'll just, uh, put away the basketballs here."

When no Charles appeared, Erik shrugged and began transferring the basketballs from the trolley to their meshed locker. Then, perhaps about five basketballs later, he heard a sharp inhale and a soft shuffle behind him.

"Oh! Hi Erik," Charles said with a brilliant smile and flushed cheeks. "Are you here to help? How lucky that Mr. Howlett sent you."

Erik grunted and continued putting away basketballs.

Charles walked over to help. "I've been wanting to talk to you," he said. "This is great, isn't it? Same class together, just like before. I'm even siting behind you on your left, just like before! Do you want to catch up? I live on the other side of Westchester Crescent now, with my sister, and if you still live where you did we could -"

"No!" Erik suddenly yelled.

Oh man. He'd reached his limit before he realized he did.

Charles stepped back, his eyes wide and confused and looking more than slightly upset.

This scene felt awfully familiar.

But Erik couldn't stop himself. He was here, alone, with Charles, and there was nobody around and no reason around anymore to stop him from saying what he wanted. "How can you… can you just be so _normal_ ?" Erik exclaimed. "I don't get you. You remember - you do remember? - what happened when you left, right? What I said to you, what I did? Dammit, you meant so much to me, and I've been thinking about this so much, and you're just - you're just all peachy, about _everything_ ! What do you _want_?"

Erik heaved his breaths, trying to calm down. His hands were fisted in his shorts, and he looked away, half ashamed about his outburst, half truly angry about it all. He dared not look at Charles, and waited in dread for Charles' reply.

The silence was long. Just as Erik thought he should probably just leave, that he'd overthought it and made a complete fool of himself, Charles spoke up.

"I'm _not_ … all peachy."

Erik was surprised enough to sneak up a glance at him, and he was shocked to see Charles' usually bright demeanour completely absent now. He was fidgeting, his blue eyes just a little bit watery, and his mouth was heavily downturned.

"I'm not peachy at all," said Charles quietly. "Of course I remember. Of course I've been thinking about you. You don't know how important you were - are - to me. This is all just an act. I thought if I were casual around you, maybe you'd brush off what happened, and… and we could be friends again." Charles sniffed. "I want to be with you again."

The silence was deafening.

"Oh," Erik said, stupidly.

Charles looked up. There was something like hope twinkling in his eyes. "Did you mean what you said, though?"

"Huh?"

"About me having meant a lot to you." Charles blushed, suddenly shy. "Do I still? Mean a lot to you?"

Erik's throat was suddenly dry. Charles shuffled towards him slowly as he wracked his brain for an answer.

"Y-Yeah," he finally stuttered.

Charles was suddenly much too close to him. His face was only a few inches away. It'd been years since he'd seen Charles' face so close. Those eyes - _oh_ , those eyes, those freckles, of which there were more than there were seven years ago, that soft-looking skin, those lips… why were they coming so close…

"Lehnsherr! Xavier! What's taking you two so long?" Mr. Howlett came stomping into the storage room.

Charles quickly returned to organizing the basketballs on the other side of the locker, while Erik fumbled with his own task, ears feeling strangely hot from that odd moment they'd just had.

Mr. Howlett stayed with them for the rest of the time until clean-up duty was completed, pitying them for what he perceived was their utter lack of physical strength when they had, apparently, not even finished half their duties. There were no more opportunities to talk to Charles until the next class. Charles seemed uncharacteristically annoyed at Mr. Howlett for reasons Erik couldn't fathom; Charles _loved_ teachers, and could charm them like a wizard. Erik caught him glaring at the back of Mr. Howlett's head once, and when Charles saw that he was being watched, he smiled sheepishly and looked away.

Back in the classroom, after Mr. Howlett had sent Charles to the office to hand off the supply list and Erik back to homeroom, Emma and Moira ambushed him.

"Have you asked him yet?" Moira asked eagerly, but also aggressively, her nails digging into Erik's arm.

"No," Erik said. Moira glared daggers at him, but for some reason, he felt completely unaffected by their viciousness and almost… light. All he could think about was that he and Charles were _friends again_.

They were _friends_ again.

He grinned stupidly, and Moira took a step back.

"Look," he said, before sound could come out of Emma's opened mouth, "I'll ask him today, ok? I'm probably walking home with him, I can ask for you then."

Apparently they'd been expecting much more of a fight, because they gaped at him for a long moment before nodding quickly, all business-like, and stepped away together.

"We'll be waiting," Emma said, menacingly.

Erik gave her a thumbs up.

Math period quickly followed, then Languages. There were no breaks, and Erik squirmed silently in his chair as he waited for school to be over so that he could at last talk to Charles. He wanted to see if Charles was as impatient, but since Charles was sitting behind him, Erik felt that if he looked back to catch Charles' eyes it would seem that he was too desperate, and he wanted to play it cool. Azazel was giving him prodding looks throughout the periods, an obvious _why the hell are you so happy all of a sudden_ on his eyebrows.

"I talked to him," Erik whispered excitedly to Azazel when the school bell finally rung. People were packing up and conversing loudly all around them so there was no way Charles would overhear.

" _Finally_." Azazel heaved a dramatic sigh. "When's the wedding?"

Erik shook his head and glared at him half-heartedly as he turned to approach Charles.

"So, uh…" Erik dawdled as he waited for Charles to finish packing up his books. "What are you doing after school?"

Charles' head whipped around so fast Erik was afraid he'd die. He didn't. "What are you - why are you asking?" His cheeks tinted pink.

Erik was confused by his reaction. Was it a weird thing to ask someone what they were doing after school? No, right? "I don't know, I thought we might walk home together, or something."

"Oh." Charles looked mildly crestfallen. Then he put on a bright smile. "Yes, Erik! I'd love that."

"O-kay," Erik said slowly. Was it just him, or had Erik lost the ability to read his best friend? They used to understand each other inside out, to the point where telepathy wouldn't have made a difference in their relationship. But now, it felt like missed connections all over the place, and Erik momentarily panicked about losing Charles just when they'd found each other again. "Okay, then let's head out now. Azazel," Erik called out. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Understanding dawned on Azazel's face when his eyes caught Charles standing next to Erik. Then he grinned. "See ya later, traitor!"

Erik looked around for teachers, and flipped him off when there were none.

Charles laughed, and for a moment, everything was perfect.

As they paced the sidewalk together, slowly because neither of them wanted this moment to end, Erik kicked at rocks and generally felt too giddy. Charles was - Charles Xavier was walking right beside him! After all these years. He was smiling shyly at the ground, looking as sweet and adorable as he ever did.

"You haven't changed much," Erik said.

"Haven't I?" Charles asked. "I've grown taller."

Erik pretended to regard him. "Not to me, no."

Charles punched him lightly on the arm.

"So… what have you been up to?" Erik asked. "How come you decided to move back?"

For some reason, Charles blushed. "Oh, I, well… my father passed away last year, and my mother's gone off her rocker, so I'm rather in charge of the family now. There was nothing for me and Raven there, at least not when it comes to the careers we're hoping to have, so I decided to move us back. My mother's still in England though, she likes it there better."

Erik stared at him. "I'm really sorry about your dad," he said softly. "And your mom. That's a lot of responsibility and pressure on you, to deal with all of that." And Erik felt more ashamed of his ass for having been so preoccupied with something so stupid and trivial in the past few days.

Charles shook his head. "It's all right. We've managed so far. I'm quite happy to be back here again." He smiled up at Erik. "So, what about you?"

"Uh, not much. After you left, I just… went on to Purview middle school, and then Westchester High. Nothing much as happened. I still live with my mom, in the same house."

"That sounds very nice," Charles said wistfully. "Do you think I can visit your house? I'd love to see your mom again. I've missed her too. Do you think she'll remember me?"

"Sure," Erik grinned. "You can visit her any time, like before. Of course she'll remember you; sometimes I think you're her favourite son."

"That's not true!" Charles exclaimed with a laugh.

"Oh, yes it is," said Erik. "You were well-behaved and polite, while I came home with bruises and cuts from school fights and was generally more of a nuisance than a help around the house."

Charles chuckled. "Yes, I remember you as being quite energetic," he said. A comfortable silence fell over them, and for a while they listened to the rustle of trees and hums of cars passing by. Then -

"Is there anything else that happened while I was gone?" Charles asked. For some reason, Charles was blushing again, and his voice turned very soft and shy. "Did you have, well… an SO or something?"

"Not… really," Erik said. "Huh. Well, I had something like a girlfriend back in sixth grade, but we 'broke up' half a year later, because she got interested in another boy. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, so I don't think I really considered her as an SO or anything. There was this other girl, Magda, that I really liked, and I asked her and we went on a few dates, but it never became anything serious."

"Oh," said Charles, his voice and face suddenly tight.

But Erik didn't notice, because he'd just remembered something he was supposed to do. Moira and Emma might finally get off his ass, and he felt a ridiculous surge of happiness at the thought. They were _intimidating._ "Speaking of SOs," Erik began excitedly, "what about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"

Charles suddenly stopped walking, and looked at Erik with wide eyes. "N-no," he stuttered, going red.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Erik said, confused by Charles' reaction. "Well? Do you? If you don't, do you want one? Emma and Moira have been pestering me to worm this information out of you. They're _super_ interested in you, so if you're looking…" Erik winked at him. The thought of Moira or Emma with Charles together actually felt weirdly uncomfortable, but Erik didn't understand why, and so tried to ignore it.

But Charles didn't look thrilled. In fact, the soft smiles and relaxed demeanour had vanished, replaced by what Erik could only recognize as hurt. Charles stared at him with wide eyes full of disbelief and betrayal. He was, very obviously, extremely upset.

"W-what?" Erik asked very nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Erik, I thought…" Charles trailed off in a shocked whisper. His eyes looked almost tearful.

"Thought what?" Erik said, frantic. Had he said something wrong?

Charles blinked, and then shook his head. He was rather purple now from blushing. "Nothing. Nothing. I… I think I'm just going to head home now. Bye, Erik."

What the hell? Erik stared after him in shock as Charles crossed the street by himself, head down, without another look at Erik. Then he came to his senses, and yelled, "Wait! Didn't you want to come over?"

Charles shook his head in the distance. "No I - I just remembered I have something I need to do. See you tomorrow." With that, he ran away and disappeared around the corner.

Erik stood there for a long time.

What the _hell_?

"I don't _understand_ ," finished Erik the next day before class started, as he regaled the mysterious tragedy at Azazel, who looked bored and amused at the same time.

"Hmmm," Azazel said.

"What did he- why? Just why? I just told him that Emma and Moira liked him, and were available. And then he freaked out."

"I can't help you," said his friend, shrugging, although there was a knowing twitch to his mouth that would have irritated Erik were he not so occupied with thoughts of losing his best friend so quickly after getting him back. "Don't you have any ideas?"

Erik thought hard for a moment. "No," he moaned.

"Think outside the box, Erik," said Azazel. "It's probably something to do with crushes, since that's the last thing you mentioned before he ran away."

Erik furrowed his brows. "Crushes? I didn't talk about crushes. It was SOs, and Moira and Emma."

Azazel looked like he was about to say something for a moment, before he waved his hand quickly and shook his head. "Same thing, bro. It has something to do with that, and Charles. Charles and crushes. And think of the way he acted around you. "

Erik narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Azazel. "Do you know something you're not telling me?"

"What? No."

"Liar," Erik said, not convinced. Azazel was a talented actor, and one couldn't always tell what he was _really_ saying.

"Don't attack me. I'm helping you think of why Charles suddenly avoided you."

"Hmmm," Erik hummed, successfully distracted by this more pressing matter. Then he sat up. "Oh!"

Azazel grinned. "You finally figured it out?"

"Yeah! Charles has a crush on one of them, and he's too shy to talk to me about it!"

Azazel's smile dropped. "What? No-"

"I remember back when we were kids, Charles always became hilariously awkward whenever we talked about crushes. He'd basically turn into a stuttering tomato."

Azazel pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. "Erik -"

Erik slapped him on the shoulder good-naturedly. "What's wrong with you? Thanks for your help, Az. I'm gonna go talk to him, tell him it's ok."

Just then, Charles walked through the door. There were about twenty minutes before class began, so Erik calculated that there was plenty of time to confront him about. He rose up quickly and dashed towards him. Azazel made an aborted choked noise, but Azazel was being weird and Erik ignored him.

"Good morning Charl-- oh, you don't look so well," Erik said, frowning.

Charles looked _horrible_. There were thick swollen bags under his eyes as though he'd been crying, and his skin was paler than usual, almost sallow. He looked as though he hadn't slept a wink in a week. Charles seemed surprised to see him. He opened his mouth with no sound coming out, his cheeks tinting pink, before he looked away and mumbled, "Good morning." His voice sounded hoarse. "I, uh, I - I caught a cold."

"Should you really be at school then?"

Charles shuffled his feet. "I'm fine."

"You should tell the teacher anyway in case you need to go to the nurse's office," Erik said, concerned.

Charles nodded, still not looking up.

"Okay, uh,' Erik began. "I think I've figured out what happened yesterday."

 _That_ made Charles look up. His swollen eyes enlarged just a bit. "You - you have?"

Erik nodded solemnly. "Yes, and I'm really, really sorry for being so inconsiderate."

Charles blinked at him. He looked weirdly hopeful, but almost frightened, too, and he was quite red again. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "That's - that's all right. So then, um, what, uh, what do you think?" Then his voice turned even quieter. "Do you feel the same way?"

Erik stared at him. That didn't make sense. "What do you mean?"

Charles frowned at him. "What do you think I mean?"

"Uh… I don't… feel the same way…?"

The only way to describe how Charles looked now was that his world had somehow ended, and someone had thrown a bucket of snow into his shirt on top of it all. He looked absolutely _wrecked_. Charles' face turned blotchy, and he appeared as though he'd stopped breathing. A few students became quiet around them, and whispers began drifting up.

Erik panicked. What on _earth_ had he said, had he done? Oh, he _really_ didn't like seeing Charles like this - it made him want to cry, too, and some part of his heart felt like it was breaking, for some reason. He scrambled to explain - whatever he could explain. "I - I mean, why would I like Emma and Moira? Why do you… want me to feel the same way about them, if you like one of them? I mean, I know you like one of them, that's why you ran off, right? Look, you can tell me anything you want, I'm - I'm really trying to be your friend. I'm sorry, I want to help-"

Charles made a choking noise that sounded between a sob and grunt of frustration. He pushed Erik aside and stomped to his desk, refusing to look at him. Erik could see his ears flushing deep red, and his own flushed just as deeply when he realized that a number of students around them had stopped what they were doing and were staring at him.

Azazel shook his head slowly and deliberately in his direction.

 _WHY?!_ Erik cried internally, as he reluctantly sat back down at his own desk. Charles was laying his head on his arms, small and tight and unwilling to look at anybody.

"You are a fucking idiot," Azazel said matter-of-factly as they ate lunch in the cafeteria together. "I've never known a stupider person."

"Then don’t hang out with me," Erik muttered.

"I feel too sorry for you not to," Azazel returned. "So what's your next move, O Socially Inept?"

"Shut _up_ ," Erik mumbled.

For once, Azazel said nothing, and let him sulk in peace.

Erik was _miserable_. His lunch sat untouched in front of him. It looked completely unappetizing. He pushed his cold pasta around. The only way he'd eat it was if somehow his food promised to help get Charles back.

 _Is this how heartbreak feels like_? Erik wondered. There was a stone in his chest and he couldn't breathe.

Suddenly the noises of the cafeteria around them and the revolting smell of the food before him became too much. "I'm gonna go back to the classroom," he said, standing up.

"What for? We don't have any homework."

"To take a nap, or something," Erik mumbled, and then left.

The hallways were quieter, though small pockets of students dotted the corners and some school staff stood around making conversation. They all looked very happy. Erik kicked at an imaginary pebble as he ambled back towards his homeroom class, trying to keep his mind blank but completely failing to not drown in utter emotional shit.

Suddenly, the doors to the emergency stairways flew open next to him, and out stomped Emma, followed by Moira, both looking harried, annoyed, and even a little bit frightened. Their eyes went wide when they saw Erik. Emma was the first to recover.

"I don't know what you've done, or said to him, but you are invisible to us now," Emma said through gritted teeth, the most wild he'd ever seen her.

"You've ruined our chances _forever_!" Moira cried. Emma took her arm, and they stormed off.

Erik looked at their retreating backs with utter confusion. What were they talking about?

Well, whatever it was, it sounded as though he'd never have to interact with them again, and that was fine by him.

Then Erik stopped. It also sounded like they were talking about… Charles.

Without a second thought, Erik pushed through the emergency exit door into the dank concrete stairwell.

When the door slammed shut, Erik couldn't hear anything at first. It was very, very silent, and if he hadn't suspected that Charles might be in here, he would have left right then. But in a couple of moments, there was a very tiny, very soft sob, somewhere on the second set of stairs above him.

Quietly, Erik took the stairs. He made sure his footsteps were making minimal sound. It felt like forever, but once he reached the first landing, he saw a small ball of fluffy brown hair peeking out from a corner on the second landing. This time, Erik sprinted up.

Just before reaching the corner, Erik stopped. He suddenly felt nervous. What did he want to say? What could he possibly fix, when he didn't even know what was wrong and everything he'd done so far involving Charles had been serial shipwrecks?

What if Charles _hated_ him now?

 _No_ . Erik found that thought unusually frightening. No, he needed to talk this out with Charles, find out why Charles was so… so _sad_ . But maybe what Charles needed was for Erik to stay away, and if that's the case, Erik would stay away without another word because he cared for Charles more than he'd thought he could care for anybody who wasn't his family. But he needed to _know_. He needed to know what he'd done wrong, so maybe, he could make it better again.

"Charles?" Erik whispered softly.

The fluffy brown hair stopped trembling. There was a sharp intake of breath. Feet shuffled.

"Can I sit next to you?" Erik asked.

For the longest time, Charles didn't move, his head on his knees and his arms wrapped tightly around himself. Then, just slightly, he nodded.

Feeling like the sun had come out for the first time in a century, Erik moved forward and sat down next to him in the small nook.

They were silent for a while. Then Erik finally asked, "Can you please tell me what's wrong?"

As expected, Charles didn't answer.

Erik sighed. "Look. I don't… I'm not good at this. I don't know what I've done wrong. But I know I have, and I'm really, really sorry, but can you please tell me what I've done wrong, so I don't do it again?"

Charles was quiet.

"I want to be your friend again," Erik said. "I really, really care about you."

Charles moved a little, at that. He lifted his head just slightly, but not enough for his face to be visible.

"I can't - I can't tell you," Charles said, his voice almost gone from crying. "And it's not really _your_ fault. I'm sorry for being like this."

"Why can't you tell me?" Erik asked, incredulous. "You can tell me _anything_ , and I really mean anything. It won't make me stop caring about you."

Charles shook his head.

"Well, I'm not leaving until you at least tell me _something_. Or let me know how I can make it better."

Perhaps five minutes passed, or fifteen. Erik couldn't really tell, but he was a man of his words, and he stayed put in the chilly corner of the emergency stairwell, pressed next to his best friend. His stomach growled, and he hoped Charles didn't hear it. Charles' body was pleasant and warm on his side, the wool of his unfashionable cardigan feeling surprisingly comfortable against his skin, and Charles smelled very nice. Erik almost felt drowsy.

"I like you," Charles suddenly said, very, very quietly.

Erik blinked. He replayed what he'd just heard in his head to make sure he hadn't gotten it wrong. Erik decided to keep his mouth shut, because he seemed never to say the right things during important moments with Charles, and waited for him to continue.

Charles cleared his throat. Erik could see his neck flushing. "W-well?" Charles stuttered. "Say something."

"What do you mean by 'you like me'?" Erik said slowly. He had a feeling he couldn't afford to misunderstand anything right now. He thought Charles might mean as friends, but he had a weird suspicion Charles meant something very different.

"I _like_ you," Charles said to the floor. "I think I love you," he whispered.

Erik's eyes widened.

"Oh," he breathed.

Oh.

Charles darted a glance at him from the side. He fidgeted nervously, his head still inclined. His voice was tiny. "I moved here for you, Erik. I had a chance to come back here, and I never stopped thinking about you, so I moved here to this school to see you again. I've, god, I've liked you since I met you all those years ago. But-" now, Charles scrunched up his face and looked as though he was about to cry again. "But I suppose you don't feel the same way, and I'm just a lovesick fool."

Erik gaped. "No," he said.

He didn't know how he felt, but… not in a bad way. No - now that Charles said it, really _told_ him - perhaps - maybe - is that what Erik feels, too? Maybe - maybe Erik likes him too, kind of? Is that why he felt uncomfortable about Moira or Emma dating Charles?

"No what?" Charles mumbled, pulling at his shoelaces.

Erik sat up, hearth thudding, and grabbed Charles arm to direct his attention on him. "No, you're not a fool."

Charles held his breath, eyes wide.

"You're not a fool," Erik repeated. "I don't - I - " Erik stuttered, feeling suddenly nervous, licking his lips. "Maybe - I think - that maybe… I like you, too?"

Charles blinked at him like a deer in headlights. "Don't joke, Erik," he whispered. "That's cruel."

"I'm not!" Erik said frantically. "I think - maybe - I like you. I felt really weird about you dating Emma or Moira, and - and I couldn't stop thinking about you too, have never stopped. I care so much about you. And when I think about - " Erik stopped, turning red, but his eyes, trained on Charles' cherry bright lips, finished the sentence.

Charles' eyes went _huge_. There was a moment of stilled shock.

Then Charles surged forward, eager as a puppy and practically squishing Erik against the wall. But he stopped just before his lips touched Erik's, giving Erik one last chance to get away, looking just a little bit uncertain.

Erik closed that last bit of space.

Charles' lips were warm, soft, a little salty from tears, but so, so sweet. Charles closed his eyes and moaned so desperately that Erik felt his cock instantly heat up. Erik pulled him closer and held him tightly, delighted and awed to be able to feel Charles' lovely body squirm right against his own.

When they broke apart for air, Charles gasped. He was blushing again, but for once, Charles didn't look confused, or uncomfortable, or any number of negative things usually associated with his face when his cheeks turned red. Instead, Charles looked, beautifully, beautifully _happy_.

"I've waited so long for this," Charles whispered, sounding near tears, clutching at Erik's shirt.

In response, Erik kissed him again.

"Can I ask - what did you say to Emma and Moira?" Erik said, as they pretty much cuddled their way down the emergency stairs. They were probably late for class.

"Oh, I had… words with them," Charles said vaguely.

Erik cocked his head. "What'd you say? I ran into them and they were freaked out."

Charles shuffled his feet, looking almost embarrassed, but refused to speak another word about the matter. Erik didn't like that they'd lost their moment just now, and pecked him on the lips. Charles kissed him back more than enthusiastically, and the matter was soon completely forgotten.

***

THEN END

**Author's Note:**

> 8)))


End file.
